I guess the Phelps story will end at some point; however, it’s not anytime soon. Now, in an effort to save face overseas — he’s apologizing … again, this time being forced by the Mazda car company to the people of China.

The 52-second video has been posted on several Web sites in China, and one major Chinese newspaper said the video had been sent directly from the Japanese auto company Mazda, which last month signed Phelps to an endorsement deal believed to be worth more than a million dollars. Phelps was signed to promote Mazda cars in China after his record-breaking eight-gold-medal performance at the Beijing Olympics last summer.

In the video, Phelps begins by saying, “To my Chinese friends,” and goes on to apologize for behavior that was “regrettable and not what people have come to expect from me.” Phelps’s words are subtitled in Chinese.

Oh boy. I can understand the culture there is different, but seriously?